Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
17-17
Abilene Christian
17-18
'Dogs storm back for wild win over ACU
4/15/2022 10:15:00 PM | Baseball
Trailing 7-2 entering the bottom of the eighth, Fresno State (17-17) rallied back with seven runs, including a go-ahead grand slam from Nate Thimjon to complete the comeback victory.
Ben Newton led the 'Dogs with three hits with six other Bulldogs collecting base knocks. Andrew Kachel knocked out his eighth home run of the season to join Ivan Luna and Josh Lauck for the team lead in long balls.
On the mound, southpaw Jake Dixon went five innings limiting Abilene Christian (17-18) to four hits, no runs, three walks and struck out a career-high 10.
Trevor Garcia, Robbie Peters and Cooper Bergman closed out the final four innings with Peters earning his third win of the season and Bergman converted his third save of 2022.
How It Happened
The 'Dogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a run in the second on an RBI double by Tommy Hopfe and added a solo home run from Kachel in third.
The Wildcats responded with seven unanswered runs bringing one across in the sixth, five more in the seventh, which included a three-run bomb from first baseman Hunter Gieser, before one more came in on a solo home run in the seventh.
The Bulldogs responded with a seven-run frame getting started with a bases-loaded walk by Luna followed by a bases-loaded hit by pitch from Vinny Bologna. After a pitching change for ACU, Thimjon wasted no time crushing a first-pitch grand slam to center field to put the 'Dogs up 8-7.
Newton added a key insurance run knocking home pinch-runner Travis Welker with a single to left field as it proved to the game-winning run with Abilene Christian getting one run back in the ninth on a solo home run by Gieser.
Up next
The Bulldogs go for the series win on Saturday at 1:05 p.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Peters, Robbie (3-0)
L: Tanner Riley (2-2)
S: Bergman, Cooper (3)
Batting:
2B: Mitchell Dickson 1 ; Hammit, Brett 1
HR: Grayson Tatrow 1 ; Hunter Gieser 2
RBI: Grayson Tatrow 1 ; Hammit, Brett 2 ; Hunter Gieser 5
SF: Hunter Gieser 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Grayson Tatrow 1 ; Colton Eager 1 ; Randle, Bash 2 ; Bryson Hill 1 ; Hammit, Brett 1 ; Hunter Gieser 2
SB: Colton Eager 1
CS: Aaron Staehely 1
HBP: Bryson Hill 1
Batting:
2B: Hopfe, Tommy 1
HR: Kachel, Andrew 1 ; Thimjon, Nate 1
RBI: Kachel, Andrew 1 ; Newton, Ben 1 ; Luna, Ivan 1 ; Bologna, Vinny 1 ; Hopfe, Tommy 1 ; Thimjon, Nate 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Kachel, Andrew 2 ; Newton, Ben 1 ; Morgan, Zach 1 ; Luna, Ivan 1 ; Bologna, Vinny 2 ; Thimjon, Nate 1 ; Welker, Travis 1
SB: Bologna, Vinny 1
HBP: Bologna, Vinny 1
